At Catholic Charities, interns come in and out every semester/year like clockwork. In the Immigration and Naturalization department, I was one intern of many others, coming from schools like Universidad Iberoamericana (Mexico City), Loyola, and DePaul. With this in mind, I wanted to leave something behind at my internship site that would help future interns and volunteers that come after me. Since my orientation to the department was intense and overwhelming, I talked to Nancy (Director of the department) and Melisa (Intern Assistant Supervisor) and, with their approval, I created an orientation guide.

I spent a lot of time working on this handbook, making sure it included everything I learned in my first days at the internship, as well as helpful information I had to learn along the way.

To my delight, Nancy and Melisa loved it. In the interest of merging print and digital resources (since the department tends to struggle with technology), I made two versions for the department. One is a print copy, in full color and organized in a binder. The other version is a Google document, which can be viewed on any computer, no login necessary. My hope is that the print copy will work well as a physical handbook, in which interns can make notes and bookmark pages, while the online version works for people who may be more comfortable with technology. Additionally, what I love about the Google document is that the handbook contains a multitude of helpful hyperlinks, which can be clicked to expand upon information.

Here it is: my brainchild and the product of intense research and review...a small way to leave my mark at my internship site and hopefully help others in the future.